Apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighter hydrocarbons



arch 4 9 19240 W. F. MUEHL APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING HEAVY HYDROCARBONSINTO LIGHTER HYDROCARBONS 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17 Mach 41924o 1,485,565

W. F. MUEHL APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING HEAVY HYDROGARBONS INTO LIGHTERHYDROCARBONS Filed March 17, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l\ N BY A TTORAEY W.F. MUEHL APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING HEAVY HYDROCARBONS INTO LIGHTERHYDROCARBONS Filed March 17 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 A TTAEY PatentAPPARATUS FOR CONVERTING 1 sas CITY, mssouar, assrenoa 'ro 1: FINEBIES,nc, or KANSAS CITY, rarssounr, A conroaa'rroa or HEAVY HYDROCARIBONSnrro LIGHT 1o CARBONS.

Application filed March 17, 1921. .8eria1 No. $58,049.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. MUEH'L, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and a State ofMissouri, have mvented certain new q and useful Im rovements in Aparatus for Converting eavy Hydrocar ons into Li hter Hydrocarbons; and Ido declare the fol lowing to be a full, clear, and exact dem scriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying rawings, and to the letters and figures of refer- 16 oncemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification. I

This invention relates to an apparatus for convertin relatively heavyhydrocarbons into relatively light hydrocarbons, the primary objectbeing to improve the apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbon oilsinto gasoline.

In carrying out my invention, I maintain practically a constant level ofthe heavier hydrocarbon oils in a container which is preferably heatedby a furnace so that the temperature of the oil will be raised highenough to cause the lighter hydrocarbons to be distilled off in the formof vapor. The vapor is conveyed to a condenser box where it is condensedinto liquid form. Between the condenser box and the still is a tower,through which the high temperature vapor passes, there being means toprovide a contra-flow of relatively heavy hydrocarbons in the tower,which are adapted to absorb the heat by conduction and have theirtemperatures raised to vaporization so that they will pass off from thetower into the condenser.

The invention also contemplates the provision of an auxiliary still,which may distill d the arrows.

whatever relatively heavy ends are passe 0E from the first container andallow these to be again as new oil to invention being to recover erecovered, the object of the the maximum amount of gasoline from a givenvolume of p heavy hydrocarbon. I

One of the difi'iculties encountered in operating a still t pe ofconverter is that the solids in the orm of carbon and the like $0011accumulate on the interior of the con- Iiassed through the apparatus Ptainer and sincecarbon is anexcellent heat insulator, it will beapparent that dificulty will soon be ex erienced in maintaining theliquid withint e tank or boiler at the reuired temperature since thewalls of the tank will be progressively insulated by the progressiveaccumulation of the carbon on the interior wall thereof.

I have, therefore, provided means whereby the tank or boiler containingthe initial or main volume of hea hydrocarbon oil will be continuouslyfree of accumulating carbon, the specific means consisting of a rotaryscraper which will maintain the inner a m:- face of'the wall of the tankor boiler relatively free of accumulations, thereby bling heatpenetration and the maximum. efficiency from the furnace.

The preferred mechanical embodiment of my invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Fi 1 is a pers ective view of aplant or insta lation embo ied in my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinahseetional view through the furnace,through the boiler or still, and through the tower and condenser coilbox.

.Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical, longitudi'w-e' nal, sectional viewthrough a conveyor tube, which supports the scraper and the dischargenozzle therefor.

Flig. 4 is a cross sectional view through the sill a I Fig. 5 is adetail perspective view of one group of scrapers.

Fig. a sectional view through a water cooled bearing for the scraperdrive shaft.

Fig. 7 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view through the tower,and

Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7, looking inthe direction of In carrying out my'invention I prefer to rovide a tank1, from which leads a pipe 2, adapted to convey oil from the tank to thestill or boiler. The pipe 2 has in its line a ump 3 whereby the oil maybe pumped under pressure to the discharge nozzle 4 in the form of a swining gooseneck, from which the oil may be ischarged into the inlet 5 of astill or boiler 6.

The main still or boiler 6, is provided with lltl till

Ell

a setting of masonry 7 to provide a furnace 8, there being a suitablesource of heat 9 therein so that heat may be generated in the furnace 8and pass through the flue 10 to the stack 11, the flue 10 extendingunder the still 6 to heat the entire lower surface there of and therebyheat the oil within the same. The still 6 will initially be suppliedwith oil until it is about two-thirds full before the heat is turned on.Then the cover for the inlet opening 5 may be secured in place.

When the furnace supplies heat to the still 6, the temperature of theoil will be raised to about 750 or slightly higher at about 100 poundspressure so that the lighter hydrocarbons will be given off in the formof vapor and pass from the manhole or inlet 5 through the dischargeport- 12, through pipe 13 to the tower 14, through the vertical, tubulartower 14 to the outlet 15 pipe 16 and into the condenser box 17 belowthe tower, there being a cooling coil 18 in the condenser box. Thevapors will be condensed in the box 17 into the liquid phase and theliquid will pass therefrom through a measuring tank 19 and a meter 19where it may be measured and then to a pipe 20 Where it may pass intotanks, ready to be used.

In order to replenish the supply of hydrocarbon oil from time to time asthe vapor passes off, an auxiliary pump 21is provided which has a branchconnection 22 with the pipe 2. The pump 21 will pump heavy oil from pipe2 through the meter 23 in pipe 24, the pipe 24 entering a heat exchangeconsisting of a casing 25 in which is a preheater coil 26. Residual oilfrom still 6 enters the casing at a temperature of about 600 degrees F.,and about 100 pounds pressure, and it expands in the casing 25 becausethere will be no pressure developed in the casing. The sudden drop inpressure of the heavy ends which have been under 7 degrees F. heat and100 pounds pressure in the casing 25 at appreciably no pressure causesthe oil to immediately go into the vapor phase, leaving behind it onlythe heaviest constituents, such as tar and carbon. The lighter ends ofthe heavy oils then pass through pipe 41 into the condenser, where theyare condensed to the liquid phase. These condensed oils are belowgasoline grade but they represent gas oil ready to go through the plantagain as fresh oil to again be treated. The coil passes through thecasing and is connected to the tower 14 by a pipe 27. In practice theoil from the coil 26 passes through the pipe 27 having absorbed heatenough to raise it to about 300 degrees F the heat absorption orexchange taking place as the oil passes through the coil in casing 25.The oil at this temperature enters the tower 14 where it comes intocontact with the rising vapors from the still 6. The vapors from thestill 6 masses are about 750 de rees F. The down-pouring oil and theup-fl owing vapors counter-flowing exchange heat and tend to equalizetemperatures. The rising vapors from the still 6 will retain all thelighter fractions whose boiling points are. under 500 degrees F. Thesepass off through pipe 16 to the condenser. The outlet for the oil whichenters the tower 14 through pipe 27 is shown at the bottom of the tower14 below the inlet for pipe 13. The outlet is designated 28 and it isconnected to a chamber 29 inside the still 6 by a. pipe 30. The chamber29 constitutes a bearing for a hollow axle or shaft 31, which extendssubstantially the length of the still 6 and is provided at itsendopposite to the chamber 29 by a downwardly projecting curveddischarge nozzle or pipe 32, the shaft or axle being supported atappropriate points within the still .6 by the hangers 33, 34, 35 and 36.The curved nozzle 32 merely hangs on the hollow axle or shaft, beingsecured by the set screw 131 in groove 1.32 in shaft 31 (see Fig. 3). Bypassing the incoming relatively cool oil through the pipe 31, it hastime to heat up in pipe 31 before it is discharged into the body of oilin the still 6. Therefore, liability of lowering the temperature of themain body of oil in still 6 is eliminated because the incoming oil willhave absorbed a considerable amount of heat before it is discharged intothe still. Of course, the ideal condition would be to introduce the oilthrough the nozzle 32 at the temperature of the oil already in the stillbut this is not at all times practical. The shaft or axle also serves asa support or axle for certain novel forms of brushes or scrapers, whichwill be hereinafter described.

The tower 14 isprovided with baffles to cause tortuous flows of thecounter-flowing currents through the tower. There are spaced perforatedisks 37 in the tower, the diameters of which are co-extensive with theinternal diameter of the tower. Alternating with the disks areimperforate disks 38, the diameters of which are less than the internaldiameter of the tower, the disks 38 being supported upon a vertical rod39, arranged axially of the tower. Therefore, when the vapor passingfrom pipe 13 enters the tower 14 and passes through the tortuous channelformed by the disks 37 and 38, it will commingle with the descendingheavier liquid from pipe 27, the heat from the rising vapors raising thetemperature of the oil entering from 27 and thereby carrying off thelighter hydrocarbons through pipe 16 to the coil box. The oil still inthe liquid phase, or practically in the liquid phase, will precipitateto the bottom of the tower 1.4 and pass through the pipes 28 and 30 intothe hollow pipe or axle 31.

The oil entering tank 25 will be converted are into vapor because itwill enter it at about 750 degrees F., and at approximately 100 poundspressure. The drop in pressure in the tank 25 will cause the volatileheavy ends to separate from the tar and carbon and these will be carriedinto the condenser box.17 through the pipe 41. The condensed vapors willprovide a low grade of oil, which may be returned to the system.

ommunicating with the lower portion of the still 6 through the medium ofa pipe 42 is a settling tank 43, the heavy residues being adapted tocirculate through the carbon settling and. vapor separating tank 43 andthrough the discharge pipe 44 to the inlet 45 to the top of the tank 25due to the pres sure from the still 6, there being a valve 46 in pipe44, which may be opened and closed as desired.

The lighter hydrocarbons which may separate in the settling tank 43 willbe drawn off through the pipe 47 from one end of the settling tank 43and discharged into the still 6 through the pipe 48, there being a pump49 connecting pipe 48 to 47 driven through a gearing and a motor 50,geared to the pump in an appropriate manner. Of course, some of thecarbon will be carried out of the tank 43 into tank 25 but these solidswill be separated out of the oil in tank 25 for while the tank 43 is forseparating out the lighter oil and settling out the carbon, in actualpractice some of the carbon will at times go over with the oil into thetank 25.

A pipe 51 leads from the bottom of the preheater tank 25 and isconnected with a pipe 51, the branch pipe 52 of which is connected topipe 44 so that when desired, the valve 46 may be closed and the valve53 opened to drain off the heavier hydrocarbons from the tank 43 andthese. together with the heavier hydrocarbons drawn off through the pipe51 when the valve 54 is open, may pass into a coil 55 in a cooling box56 and then used as the fuel for the furnace 8. thus the residue afterthe lighter hydrocarbons have been distilled off may constitute the fuelfor operating the plant.

As heretofore pointed out, it is necessary in order to get the: bestresults to maintain the interior of the still 6 free from accumulatedcarbon and to this end, I have provided a novel form of carbon removingmechanism which includes as part of its construction the shaft or axle31. By reference to Figs. 2 and 6 it will be observed that there is abushing or packing 57 at one end of the tank or still 6. surrounded by awater jacket 58, which is connected to the cooling box 17 by the pipes59 and 60 sothat there will be a circulation of cooling water throughthe jacket 58.

Within the bushing and extending into the tank is a drive shaft 61having on its end outside the still 6 a gear 62, meshing with a pinion63 on a shaft 64. The shaft 64 carries a. large gear 65, which mesheswith a pinion 66 on the shaft of the motor 67, the reduction gearingbeing such that the shaft 61 is driven at a relatively low speed.

The shaft 61 carries on its end inside the still 6 a gear 68, whichmeshes with a gear 69 on the axle of shaft 31 whereby the axle or shaft31 may be rotated in its bearings 33 to 36 inclusive.

The shaft 31'carries a plurality of scrapers, one of which is shown inFig. 5. Each scraper unit is shown as consisting of a sleeve 70 adaptedto be fastened to the shaft or axle 31 and having an outstanding arm 71in the form of a T, the laterally projecting portions 72 and 73constituting supports for the loosely engaging bearings 74 on aplurality of scraper blades 75. The scraper blades are bent intermediatetheir ends, as at 76, so that they are substantially V-shaped in crosssection, the arms 75 being longer than the arms 78. The longer armsconstitute the scraping members while the arms 7 8 are counterbalancearms, being provided with weights 79 on their ends.

By reference to Fig. 4, it. will be seen that as the shaft 31 rotates ina clockwise direction. the scraper arms will contact with the inner wallof the still 6 on the down stroke for about 180 or over the entire lowersurface of the still where the caking or accumulation of the hydrocarbonmay occur. On the upper half, however, the counterbalance weights willpull the brushes out of contact with the inner face of the still.

The retractive movement, that is, the movement out of contact with theinner surface of the still 6, will be limited by the stop members 80 and81, which are shown as arms projecting laterally from the stem 71. Thisis desirable in order to permit the throwover of the individual groupsof scrapers during the rotative movement of the axle 31.

One end blade of each group is provided with a hinged scraper 82provided with a weight 83, as will be seen in Fig. 5, so that thescrapers will knock against the hangers 33 to 36 and free themselves ofcarbon. It will be observed that the groups of scrapers overlap so as toinsure a complete removal of all of the carbon within the still 6. itbeing understood, of course that while the groups of scrapers overlap,they are staggered with respect one to the other and maintain theirproper spaced relation because they are all fastened to the shaft 31.

The construction shown in Fig. 1 represents one unit, it being apparentthat the units may be arranged in batteries if desired. in which event anumber of stills and settling tanks may be connected to a singlepreheater 25 and that in actual practice, it is desirable to have theprehcater 25 slightly lower than the still 6 and. settling tank 43 sothat the contents of 413 may flow into the preheater 25 by gravity. Ifdesired, a blowofi valve 84: may be provided for the still 6.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that an an apparatus constructedin accordace with my invention will enable me to ca out the method ofconverting heavy hy rocarbons into lighter hydrocarbons so as to convertthe ma or portion of the volume of heavy hydrocarbon into lighterhydrocarbon oils and that the residue or major portion thereof may beutilized as the heat generating medium to maintain the treated volume othydrocarbons at the proper temperature.

In actual practice I have produced a very high grade gasoline and thepercentage of recovery is relatively high.

lBy reference to the drawings it will be observed that the paddles orblades are turned in angles in a rearward direction to cause a thrust tobe exerted against the solids toward the rear of the still or boiler 6so as to tend to feed the solids toward the discharge end of the boileror still and maintain the forward portion comparatively free fromaccumulations so as not to retard the conduction of heat into thehydrocarbon contained within the still.

In actual practice it is intended to drive the paddles at a relativelyslow speed, for example,'about one B. P. M. The effect of rotating theblades or paddles at this speed is to induce a downward flow of theupper level of hydrocarbon in the still toward the bottom where it willbe subjected to direct heat from the bottom of'the still.

The rotation of the paddles at regular intervals will causesubstantially all of the oil in the still to, at some time, come incontact with the hottest portion of the still; that is, the portionimmediately above the furnace, thereby inducing a greater per cent yieldof gasoline of a higher quality than where the heat must penetrate theentire body by conduction progressively from the bottom to the top. Thisresult has been observed in actual practice and I. therefore, considerit important that the rotating paddles or blades be driven at about thespeed specified, for ractice has indicated that this is tge most e cientspeed in a device of this kin What I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighterhydrocarbons comprising a still, means for heating the contents of thestill to a vaporizing temperature, a gravity separator, means forconducting residual oil from the still to the gravity separator, a tank,a pipe through which oil may pass from the separator to the tank tocarry hot oil to the tank, a preheater coil in the tank, means forfeeding raw oil to said preheater coil, a tower connected to thepreheater and to the still, the

oil inlet to the tower from the preheater being at one end of the towerand the oil discharge from the tower to the still being at the other endthereof, a vapor outlet for the still leading into the tower above theoil dischar e from the tower to the still, a vapor disc arge at theother end of the tower, a condenser connected to the last nameddischarge, and means for causing a counter-flow of oil and vapor withinthe tower.

2. An apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighterhydrocarbons comprising a still, a preheater, a tower to which thepreheater and still are connected, a casing around the prehedter, asettling tank having its inlet connected to the still and its outletconnected to the casing around the preheater, means for inducing acounterflow of liquid and vapor from the reheater and the stillrespectively through t e tower, and a condenser connected to the tower.

3. An apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighterhydrocarbons comprising a still, a preheater, a tower to which theprcheater and still are connected, means for inducting a counter-flow ofliquid and vapor from the reheater and still re spectively through t etower, a condenser connected to the tower, a settling tank having itsinlet connected to the still, a casing around the prcheater. means forconnecting the casing to the settling tank, and a pipe leading from thetop of the settling tank to the sill.

4. An apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighterhydrocarbons comprising a stilL-a preheater, a tower to which thepreheater and still are connected, means for inducing; a counterflow ofliquid and vapor from the preheater and still respectively through thetower, a condenser connected to the tower, a settling tank having itsinlet connected to the still, a casing around the preheater, means forconnectin the casing to the settling tank, a pipe lea ing from the topof the settling tank to the still, and a pump in the last-named pipe forinducing the flow from the settling tank to the still.

5. An apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighterhydrocarbons comprising a still. a preheater coil, a tower to which thepreheater and still are connected, means for inducing a counter-flow ofliquid and vapor from the preheater and still respectively through thetower, a condenser connected to the tower, a settling tank having itsinlet connected to the still. a casing around the preheating coilh'avingan inlet connected to the outlet of the settling tank, a pipe leadingfrom the settling tank to the still, and means in the last-named pipemasses for inducing a flow from he settling tank into the still.

6. An apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighterhydrocarbons comprising a still, a settling tank connected to the still,an auxiliary still connected to the settling tank, a preheater in theauxiliary still having an inlet for connection with the source of supplyand an outlet pipe, a condenser box, a pipe connecting'the condenser boxwith the auxiliary still, a tower into which the outlet pipe from thepreheater discharges, a discharge pipe leadmg from the tower into thefirst-named still, a pipe leading from the first-named still to thetower above the discharge pipe from the tower into the still, thelast-named pipe connecting the still to the tower to induce acounter-flow of vapor from the bottom of the still with oil introducedinto the top of the tower from the pipe leading from the preheater, anda vapor pipe lJeading from the tower to the condenser 7. An apparatusfor converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighter hydrocarbons comprising asource of oil supply, a pump connected thereto, a pipe line dischargingtherefrom, a still for receiving the discharge from the ipe line, adischarge pipe leading from t e still, atower having its lower endconnected to the discharge from the still, a discharge from the tower atits upper end, a condenser box connected to the lastnarned discharge, asecond pump connected to the source of oil supply, a coil connected tothe second pump and communicating with the top of the tower to induce aflow of oil counter-wise to the flow of vapors from the still, means fordischarging the flow entering the tower from the tower to the still, asettling tank, a pipe connecting the still to the settling tank, apreheater tank surrounding the coil, a connection between the settlingtank and preheater tank, and a connection between the top of thepreheater tank and the condenser box.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM F. MUEI-HJ.

